With Time Running Short, Texas Puts Slump Behind It

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the first time in a long while, Texas senior forward Damion James appeared as though he was enjoying himself on the basketball court Wednesday night.

James made virtually every key bucket, slashed through the lanes for critical rebounds on the offensive and defensive ends as claimed double-double No. 16 of the season with 28 points and 16 rebounds. He looked very much like the Damion James of earlier in the season when he was everyone National Player of the Year choice as he led the sixth-seeded Longhorns to a hard fought 75-82 win over No. 11 seed Iowa State in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center.

It's probably little coincidence the Longhorns also looked as good as they have in over a month and half, too as they went from No. 1 to out of the polls.

"It's not fun when you're losing, man" James said of his renewed stride Wednesday night. "I felt like we got right back to where we needed to be, like we were at the beginning of the year, attacking on offense and defense. When you're doing that, you're having fun."

Finally, there was plenty of fun to go around as the Longhorns showed some flashes of the team that had won 17 straight games and held the No.1 ranking in the nation for two weeks in early January.

UT coach Rick Barnes has seen his team stomped by injuries and perhaps some erratic play by his freshman. But Wednesday night, he played with the starting lineup and his rotation some and the experiment seemed to pay dividends.

Junior forward Gary Johnson, the team's sixth man, was inserted into the starting lineup for just the second time this season. Jai Lucas got the point guard minutes that would normally have gone to J'Covan Brown, while Matt Hill came off the bench to contribute some key minutes in the post.

Playing Dexter Pittman, Johnson and James in the front court at the same time seemed to be particularly effective against the athletic front of Iowa State that included Marquis Gilstrap, Craig Brackins and Justin Hamilton.

Johnson and James both turned in double doubles with Johnson scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 boards. Pittman also had his best performance in weeks with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting around the basket.

"It's hard for a team to double team both of us," Pittman said of him and Johnson. "Whenever [Johnson} would come across, they'd double Gary and I'd look for the short corner and be wide open because my man would leave me and go over there and Gary passed me the ball. It's kind of like a high-low set."

But that isn't to suggest the upset-minded Cyclones didn't have their moments. ISU actually kept it close during much of the first half on three different occasions pulled within one point of the lead in the second half to the delight of the pro-Iowa State crowd.

But that's when James would take over with either a big basket or a momentum changing rebound.

"Damion, you look at what he did," Barnes said. "He became a man on the boards. He just went and got everything."

James said much of his motivation came from the realization that he, Pittman and Justin Mason are now just guaranteed two games before their collegiate careers end. They'd just as soon keep it going a little longer.

"I was like I'm not ready to go home," James said. "So we had to do whatever it takes to win."

The Longhorns will need a similar mentality during Thursday night's quarterfinals round when they take on No. 3 seed Baylor in a series that has swung decisively in the Bears favor recently. Baylor has won three straight over UT dating back to last year's Big 12 tournament, which includes Saturday's season-ending 92-77 drubbing in Waco.

"Coach said they had 15 dunks," James said of the last meeting with Baylor. "That's never happened. So we've got to take it personal.

"That's all we are going to say about that situation. We are going to take it personal and see how it goes tomorrow."